"Support, Encouragement, Empowerment"

Employees - Policy 3.15

A.  HEALTH AND SAFETY
 Kokua is required by WAC and contract to maintain staffing levels which are adequate to implement the goals of the clients’ service plans and which assure basic health and safety needs are met.
B.  STAFFING FLEXIBILITY
Because the needs of our clients change, staff schedules may need to be adjusted from time to time.  Kokua cannot guarantee that employees will always retain the same team membership or the same schedules that that they were assigned on the date of hire. While it is Kokua’s practice to try to fill staff shortages through voluntary means, when critical staffing shortages occur, Kokua employees may be required to work mandatory overtime in order to assure the health and safety of our clients. 
C.  STAFFING SCHEDULES
Each team is assigned a set number of direct service hours.  This is the team’s scheduling budget.  The team has the responsibility to create staffing schedules which reflect actual client needs and preferences.  If a team feels that the number of hours assigned to them is not adequate to meet client needs, the team should submit a written request to the Director of Client Services.  The request should outline the client needs involved and should recommend the number of hours required to correct the understaffing.  The Service Coordination Team will review the proposed budget to assure that all client health and safety needs will be being met.  In order to assure that the agency remains within budget, final approval of staff schedules will be given in writing by the Executive Director or designee.
Because it is essential that on-call staff have copies of up-to-date staffing schedules, the Executive Director or designee will put copies of all newly approved, dated schedules in the On-Call Book Update mailbox.  This box should be checked at least weekly when the On-Call Book is passed to the next on-call staff person.
D.  STAFFING SHORTAGES
When an individual is unable to work their scheduled shift due to illness or injury, a staffing shortage may occur.  Routine staffing shortages are the responsibility of individual teams. Teams are expected to proactively recruit and train fill-in staff so that they have resources available to deal with staffing shortages.  All team members are expected to share the responsibility of covering unexpected staff shortages. Teams are also expected to keep overtime usage to a minimum.  Team members can use a variety of short-term strategies to assure that basic health and safety needs are covered: i.e. split open shifts into 3 or 4 hour blocks to share the burden, shift secondary staff to cover openings, call the other team in your Acorn to see if staffing can be shared temporarily, etc.
If a team has exhausted its available resources and is not able to provide adequate coverage, they should ask their Client Services Coordinator or the Director of Client Services for assistance.
E.  EMPLOYEE EMERGENCIES
If an employee has a bona fide emergency (i.e. death of a family member, life threatening situation, is admitted to the hospital, etc.) it may not be possible for that individual to find coverage for their regularly scheduled shift.  In case of an emergency, employees should use the On-Call system to notify Kokua emergency staff that there is an open shift.  If an employee has an emergency during business hours, page the Director of Client Services at 413-2428.  If an employee has an emergency after business hours, page the Executive Director at 413-6586.  It is not acceptable to leave a message on the agency voice mail.  You must pass of responsibility for your shift directly to on-call personnel.
F.  OVERTIME APPROVAL
All overtime hours need pre-approval. On-Call Service Coordinators may authorize short-term, emergency overtime to cover staff shortages occurring after business hours or on weekends.  All other overtime must be approved by the Director of Client Services or the Executive Director.